this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, the world is mobilizing to help the philippines, but just a trickle of food and water and medicine has reached the victims of typhoon haiyan. today president obama phoned the philippine president promising additional help. about 100 u.s. marines are already on the ground, as many as 2,000 more are expected. the aircraft carrier "george washington" should arrive on thursday. aquino said today the death toll may reach 2,500-- not the 10,000 some had predicted. but a reliable number is days away. we do know at least two americans are among the dead. in tacloban, the city hit hardest, thousands have swarmed the airport, desperate to get out. for now it's women and children first. those who remain can only try to ward off the smell of death.

this was tacloban, a city of 220,000 before the storm. that's the convention center there on the shore. after the typhoon the convention center was just about the only building still standing. seth doane is in tacloban. >> reporter: four days after the typhoon flattened this port city, many bodies still lay uncollected on the side of the road wrapped in cloth. increasingly desperate survivors are scavenging for food. children begged for water from any passing vehicles. while a massive international relief effort is under way, there is little evidence of it on the ground. tacloban's airport is open but badly damaged. no power means the planes can't land at night and aid workers are struggling to get supplies in. that didn't stop hundreds of

survivors who rushed to the ruined airport looking for food. others lined up hoping to be evacuated. by afternoon, the lines stretched three miles long. bodies pulled from the rubble were lined up neatly. the mortuaries are already overflowing. the situation grew more desperate by the hour. this mother in the nearby town of cebu went over her dead child. her home is gone. "we want to go back home" she said "but we can't. and i have nowhere to bury my child." many residents covered their faces to mask the smell of the dead while they searched for relatives in some of the hardest-hit areas. this filipino man traveled for three days to tacloban searching for his wife and child. he found them alive, but their home had been swept away.

>> pelley: and seth doane is joining us from the heart of tacloban. seth, what's it like to be a resident of tacloban today? >> reporter: well, scott, it is devastating. there's a lot of wandering the streets not quite sure what to do. the residents told my they cleaned this street themselves so they could at least get bicycles and motorcycles up and down but still even days later i'm standing really in the heart of the city and there are body bags very close to me that i can see. so this nightmare absolutely continues. >> pelley: where are people living? >> people are living any place that they can. you drive through the town and there are little fires burning on the side of the street at night. freedom in little lean-toes, neighbors are together. homes have just been torn apart. you can see through the homes that remain standing as windows were just cracked and people are just sleeping out in the open. last night we slept on boxes of equipment. >> pelley: seth doane in

tacloban. we'll see you on cbs "this morning" in the morning and right back here tomorrow night. bill whitaker spoke with josh morgerman, an american storm chaser who raced to the philippines to get as close to the typhoon's eye as possible. he's just back from tacloban. >> reporter: is this the worst you've ever been through? >> absolutely. without a doubt. >> pelley: when you say "intense," describe it for me. >> picture the downtown area of a city inside a tornado for an hour. that's what it was like. it was mayhem. but that was only the first part. as the center passed just south of the city, a -- the bay just rose up and swept across the downtown area. that was the storm surge. it came up very suddenly. >> pelley: we saw the pictures of you saving people on mattresses. >> the people in the first floor rooms were caught by surprise so they were in these rooms with the water rising, like death traps essentially. they smashed the windows and they were screaming for help. when you see someone suffering

like that who's, like, they're going to die if you don't do something, you don't think about it, you just go. >> reporter: i've seen the pictures of the aftermath and the devastation and it looks like a bomb went off. >> it's awful. there's a side of you that is so fascinated by the science of these things and you here in awe of it. then when you see the human misery part it's a whole other aspect. it breakses your heart. it really does. >> reporter: he says he helped save as many as 10 people, scott, and during the rescue his friend badly gashed his leg on debris in the water. to save his leg, his friend had to be airlifted out. >> pelley: bill whitaker in our los angeles newsroom. bill, thank you. 11 million filipinos are affected. today the united nations appealed for $300 million to help them. if you'd like to help, there's information on our web site, cbsnews.com. in an important medical story for americans tonight, heart doctors are putting out controversial new guidelines for

preventing heart disease. these guidelines put less emphasis on cholesterol numbers and more on other risk factors in determining who should take medication. we asked dr. jon lapook to fill us in. >> reporter: a generation of doctors and patients has focused on specific targets of cholesterol levels when using statins. but the new guidelines say when it comes to preventing heart attacks and stroke there is' no magic number. dr. neil stone led the panel. >> we did a careful study of what number we should use. was it 100? was it 90? was it 80? was it 70 for l.d.l.? we couldn't find a single number that made sense. >> reporter: so rather than adjusting the statin dose to reach a certain cholesterol level, the panel now advises doctors to prescribe er that moderate or high dose depending upon the patient's risk factors for cardiovascular disease. the group says patients may benefit from stat statins if they have a history of heart disease or stroke, l.d.l. or bad cholesterol of 190 or higher,

the onset of diabetes between the ages of 40 and 75, or a ten-year risk of heart attack or stroke of at least 7.5%. to measure that risk, the panel created a calculator that considers factors other than just cholesterol including ethnicity. for example, a 50-year-old white male with treated high blood pressure, total cholesterol of 220 and good cholesterol of 45 as a ten-year risk of cardiovascular disease of 5%. statin treatment may not be warranted. but for a man who is african american-- a group known to be at higher risk-- the exact same numbers give a risk of almost 9%. a level that meets the panel's criteria for treatment. >> everyone is different. we all have our risks and our individual factors that make treatment either more beneficial or may make treatment more difficult and to deal with that we're urging a patient, clinician discussion. >> reporter: getting rid of target cholesterol levels is such a departure from current

practice it's likely to be very a controversial among doctors. but the panel hopes the new guidelines will help remove the false sense of security that can come when a patient on a statin has a very low cholesterol level but eats poorly and doesn't exercise. >> pelley: big change. jon, thanks very much. the troubled rollout of president obama's health insurance law is taking a toll on his job approval ratings. in the respected quinnipiac university poll out today only 39% of americans say they approve of the job he's doing-- the lowest ever in that poll. 54% disapprove. perhaps reflecting his broken "you can keep your insurance promise," only 44% said the president is honest and trustworthy. and about that promise came some advice today from former president bill clinton. >> i personally believe even if it takes a change in the law the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people

and let them keep what they've got. >> pelley: major garrett at the white house, how is that suggestion playing there tonight? >> scott, two senior advisors told us there was no coordination with former president bill clinton on that comment and you can see why. clinton's comments focused even more attention on the most glaring political problem facing obamacare-- those consumers on the individual market who had their policies canceled but can't afford the new policies that comply with obamacare. the white house is looking for a fix, but it hasn't found one yet. one option is to reinstate the canceled policies but that would require the cooperation of state insurance commissioners across the country-- something the white house cannot count on and cannot not necessarily enforce. another option is to provide more subsidies so people can afford those canceled insurance policies, but, scott, senior advisors have not figured out a way to do that under the law. >> pelley: more on this to come, major, thanks very much. numbers put out by connecticut show that its web site is the only one so far to sign up more

folks for private insurance than for medicaid. we asked don daaler to check on what connecticut is doing. >> reporter: we met 21-year-old angel medina signing up for health care in hartford. he was dropped from his mother's health insurance two years ago. >> i have really bad eyes. i like to get them checked often but since i don't have health insurance, you know, doctors really want to, you know, take a look at me. >> reporter: this month he found out he may qualify for medicaid that was expanded under obamacare. connecticut's ultimate goal is to sign up 275,000 people. so far, 9,498 have enrolled. kevin counihan is chief executive officer of connecticut's health exchange. are you in any way discouraged with the numbers of people who have been applying for the program here in connecticut? >> buying health insurance is expensive and it's confusing and it's complicated so no, i'm not disappointed by it. however, we clearly is a strong goal to meet by the end of march and we're planning on meeting it

so enroll. has to kick up. >> reporter: by the end of march, counihan expects to have 100,000 people enrolled. he credit's the state's computer system with the smooth enroll. >> less is more. do fewer things well than do more things inconsistently. two is test the heck out of the system and make sure before you go live you're confident of what's going to happen and, three, hire the best people you can. >> reporter: counihan was involved with massachusetts' health insurance rollout in 2006. scott, he says that taught him people don't buy insurance like they do a book or a car. they typically look at the options an average of 18 times before making up their minds. >> pelley: don, thanks very much. today the justice department dropped its challenge to the merger of american airlines and u.s. airways after the airlines agreed to give up some of their takeoff and landing slots at a number of major airports. that will allow low-cost carriers such as jetblue and southwest to expand. if a judge approves the merger, it will create the largest

airline in the world. inspectors are finding hazards in a pipeline designed to stretch across america. experts have made their ruling on whether the new world trade center really is america's tallest tower. and what's wiping out the star fish in california? when the "cbs evening news" continues. amazing prune. enjoy plum amazins, diced prunes. i'd put these on a salad. these would be perfect for cookies. delicious and nutritious sunsweet, the amazing prune.

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>> pelley: we've found evidence of construction problems on the most controversial pipeline in a generation. the keystone x.l. is designed to bring crude oil from canada to refineries in texas. supporters say it will create thousands of jobs and help energy independence but opponents worry about damage to the environment. anna werner has been investigating. >> you're standing on top of the keystone x .l. pipeline right now. >> reporter: crews finished laying the southern half of the keystone oil pipeline through david whitley's texas property last year. so he was surprised in may when a work crew began to unearth the pipe. >> i asked "is there something wrong? " that's exactly what i said. "there something wrong?" they said "no, we just want to visually inspect a small section of the pipeline." >> reporter: whitley took video of the section they dug up. it had been laid on top of a massive rock. workers wrote "dented, cut out." so what was your reaction when you saw this? >> well, when i saw it i thought they should have done a better job when they first laid the pipe about getting rid of that

rock. >> reporter: we obtained warning letters written over the past two months to trans-canada from the federal agency that regulates pipelines. this september 10 letter warned the company it was not following its own construction specifications because dents on the pipe were found at dig sites with rocky terrain. in a second warning, regulators noted a high-weld rejection rate on a section in which 205 welds-- nearly 50%-- required repairs. the letter said trans-canada failed to use properly qualified welders. today the watchdog group public citizen said it has documented 125 sites where the pipe was dug up. its report notes problems like dents or patches applied to coatings designed to stop corrosion-- issues that, if not repaired, can lead to leaks. trans-canada maintain it is repairs are normal practice. >> if they had done the job right in the first place they would have never been doing digs. >> reporter: evan vocational

worked as an engineer from trans-canada from 2007 to 2012. he was fired after he formally complained to his bosses and a fadian regulators about what he said was substandard work on other pipelines-- also called right-of-ways. >> to have a massive amount of patchwork along the right-of-way indicate there is might be something not quite right with the way the pipeline was put in the ditch in the first place. >> reporter: trans-canada declined our request for an interview but told us in a statement the repairs are a sign that our promise programs work. that the company found and voluntarily reported the problems cited by regulators and replaced about 700 feet of pipe as a result of construction impacts. some residents want new leak tests before the pipeline is filled with oil, but trans-canada says it's not needed, that this pipeline will be the safest ever built. anna werner, cbs news, texas. >> pelley: her grandfather joe

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camelot. she's now tpol flowing her family's tradition of public service. at her confirmation hearing in september kennedy said she will honor her late father through diplomacy. during world war ii, he fought against japan. now it's america's closest ally in asia. >> i would be humbled to carry forward his legacy in a small way and represent the powerful bonds that unite our two democratic societies. >> reporter: the world got to know caroline kennedy during the early days of her father's presidency, cuddling with him while sailing off cape cod and dancing in the oval office with her younger brother john. as her father lay in state, she held her mother's hand as they approached his kas set. it was just three days short of her sixth birthday. as an adult, kennedy avoided the limelight she married, honeymooned in japan and became a lawyer, author, and mother of three. >> the next president of the united states -- >> reporter: her first step into politics came in 2008 when she joined her uncle ted kennedy

to endorse then candidate barack obama for president. she will now be a member of his foreign service. margaret brennan, cbs news, washington. >> pelley: well, chicago is crying foul tonight. new york city won the bragging rights to the nation's tallest sky scrapper. an international panel of architects ruled the needle atop one world trade center is a spire, not just an antenna and is thus a permanent part of the building. that brings its height to 1,776 feet, 325 feet taller than chicago's willis tower which held the title for more than 40 years. star fish are disintegrating before our eyes and no one knows why. that story is the next. the day my doctor told me i had diabetes, i remember thinking there's a lot i have to do...

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would have been sea stars, orange and purple sea stars at low tide. >> reporter: marine biologist pete raimondi showed us the tide pools along california's monterey bay. thousands of bright sea stars usually line these shores. in less than two months, they've vanished. how big of a mystery is this as to what's going on here? >> immense. that's probably from a scientific point of view one of the most intriguing things. we have no obvious culprit. >> reporter: his university of california santa cruz research team is finding sake sea stars underwater, their limbs falling off, their bodies disintegrating. how quickly does it go from healthy sea star to nothing? >> sea stars can go from perfectly healthy to completely decomposed overnight. >> reporter: this time lapse video shows a sea star infected with white lesions. one by one it loses each of its arms. this happened in just seven hours. this wasting disease is typically caused by bacteria. it often happens during el nino years when ocean temperatures

warm and bacteria grows more quickly. but there is no el nino now and the disease is more widespread than ever, stretching from alaska to southern california. this was a healthy sea star population last year near vancouver, canada. this is what it looks like now. >> we've never seen it like this. never. >> reporter: it's changing the ecosystem on the coast because sea stars eat these black-shelled mussels. >> these mussels are going to take over because nothing's eating them anymore. >> reporter: scientists say they don't know how much worse this dieoff will get and that it could be generations before these shores are once again painted purple and orange. ben tracy, cbs news, santa cruz, california. >> pelley: and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. and then when you get up -- can i play? no! you don't even get football. [ male announcer ] when you've got 100% fiber optic fios, you get it.

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alec baldwin comes face to face with his alleged stalker. did he break down in tears? >> we are going to tell you as we are inside the new york courtroom today. i'm nancy o'dell. >> i'm rob marciano. > alec claim he's feared for his life. his alleged stalker's fatal attraction-type outbursts. >> i'm not going to be ignored. >> did it feel to you like she could come unhinged at any moment? >> did alec have sex with the woman he says stalked him? and did she try to conceive a